RALEIGH, N.C. — A defense lawyer says that a court martial has been recommended in the case of a Marine accused of deserting his unit a decade ago and later winding up in Lebanon for eight years.
Defense attorney Haytham Faraj says a Marine hearing officer has recommended that Cpl. Wassef Hassoun face a general court martial on all charges against him. The recommendation was part of a process known as an Article 32, the military equivalent of a grand jury.
A Marine general will have the final say on whether to try Hassoun.
Faraj has said that Hassoun was kidnapped in Iraq and after briefly returning to the U.S. was tied up in the Lebanese legal system for eight years after he went on a trip there.
A Marine public affairs officer didn't immediately return a message seeking further comment.